stoked to have picked up this classic yesterday. I found a bunch of tidbits in the forum about the HotCurl model and Waveset fin (wooden custom replacement on mine however)- but looking to track down the serial number/year - can’t seem to see a s/n anywhere on board
Single color makes me think it is '69 ish since later models seem to be 2 tone colors across splayed stringer.
Thanks for the help.
That’s a nice find. They are good riders. I like the wooden fin, but you can get a replacement that will make it more original.
Flared stringers late '67 or '68. I lost an 8’8 with flared stringers and an astract bottom off the top of my car in the middle of the Chesapeake Bay Bridge and tunnel in August of '68. Never found it.
The Hot Curls after that looked quite a bit different. The old magazine ads should show you.
You did not state the length of the board. That goes a long way in determining year of origin. I can tell you that all of the early Hot Curls had curved stringers and that not all of them had colored foam between the curved stringers. They were offered with blue, yellow, red, green, or white foam stringer inserts. I can also tell you that because it’s pintail it is most likely from 1968. The early, 9’+ Hot Curls were all square tails. The serial number means nothing, but it should be on the stringer, very close to the logo. That’s where mine has it. Right about where the two stringers meet from the nose end. I’ll take a wild guess that your board is between 8’2" and 8’10". Correct me if I’m wrong.
They are great riders, my 8’-6" square tail is one of my favorite vintage riders. Both the ones I own have orange foam. I looked at one in NH a few years ago that looked very similar with wood fin and all. I thought his asking price was a little high without the waveset fin so I passed on it. If it is the same one send me a pm.
right, sorry - 9’2"
Lol. So much for wild guesses. You need a scale ruler.
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I have a 1968 9’0" square tail Gordon & Smith Hot Curl that I love. Blue foam on the bottom, purple (faded blue? on top). If you’ve never ridden a board like this you might hate it at first, just keep telling yourself to surf it from the middle forward and you’ll be set. My serial number was right in line with the logo on the deck, check there. And your logo looks like it was protected from the sun. Your board looks good, very few dings. I’m curious how that wooden fin will work. I recall the original fin was narrower and had a certain amount of flex attributed to it, probably not the same as wood.
my 8’-6", this thing is so fun in punchy surf, and like was mentioned ride middle forward. This one is foiled nicely with pinched rails.
I have the pintail version in 8’8". The design was the brainchild of Paul Bordieri, though it bears some obvious Frye influences. Knifey, 50/50 rails being just one part.
ride forward- noted :). Thanks!..and found the s/n next to logo!
thanks, excited to get out there this weekend. Not cut down, repair on nose, but if you are referring to the Vpattern it is part of the design with just a slight color variation
[Quote=cgauthier] Vpattern it is part of the design with just a slight color variation
[/quote]
At first, I thought it was the deck patch. Look at shadydave’s board and you see what I mean. But that V pattern on yours is the inverse of the deck patch cut, which mine also has. I have a feeling that your board had some color work on it that has faded drastically. The nose area is really white compared to the rest of the deck and it may have had some red tint at one time on the remaining 2/3rds. Does there appear to be a reddish cast to the color? It’s obvious that the stringer and lam were taped off.
Paul Bordieri is one of the most underrated shapers in the history of surfdom.
He was the head shaper at G&S during my years there.
He had a lot of influence on the shapes. Although Dennis Benadum designed the Magic, based on a board he took to Mexico in summer of '68, it was Paul who refined the shape through the summer of '69. I had a Magic that summer that was shaped by Paul and it was my most favorite boards I’ve ever had. Nice and thin and foiled out very nicely.
It was Paul who designed the Lil’ Gypsy by taking the standard Gypsy I was riding, a 7’2, and making a version one foot shorter that floated the same and rode better. He got the name from a model airplane magazine. A “Lil” something or other. Radio controlled model airplanes were Paul’s other passion.
He had dropped out of surfing on a regular basis for awhile to devote time to his family. Every year he would build himself whatever the new model was and paddle out for a surf to see how it worked and whatever needed to be adjusted.
But when his situation changed he started surfing again on a regular basis. The factory guys would often hit the surf after work at the end of PB Drive which was where I lived every winter in the Blue Sea Motel. Paul got heavily into surfing again and surfed with us every evening and on weekends we would travel around San Diego chasing the swell and tides. Skip always knew where the best spot would be based on his log, the swell and the type of tide.
As head shaper it was Paul’s job to make sure the shapes were consistant from the six or so production shapers. In '69 they were shaping the boards out of longboard blanks and they were not “quick shape” blanks.
